The mask
by Shoequeeny
Summary: Alec relives some old memories and relieves some tension


A/N: This was written in a flash of inspiration and that translates to it having been written in about twenty minutes. I suck at checking over things so this is written as I thought it. I might continue it and make it more M/A but that's up for debate. I'm only up to Proof of Purchase in my viewing so there's not really anything after that, other than the fact that Alec is back. Duh.  
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.   
POV: Alec (who else?)  
  
I look at her sometimes and wonder how much she knows. You could see that she was still haunted by her past.   
  
We'd gone to a water plant that Logan's sources had identified as being a hideout for some of White's troops. Of course, Max had moaned at me the entire way there. So I may not have helped by saying the only reason I was coming along was because I was bored, but that's really not the point. I mean, I always come with her on these things and my life isn't that dull. Well, okay it is, but I do like to help. Sometimes. Sometimes I'm just bored.  
  
The factory loomed above us making me feel like a matchstick next to a pile of firewood. Wow. That's kinda poetic. In a really lame way. Max went for the stealth approach of getting into the decrepit building. She busted down the door with her shoulder. "Owww!" She yelled. I just hadn't the heart to tell her that it looked like it was reinforced with solid steel. I mean, who'd want to spoil her fun? I poked her to shut up and she glared at me in that utterly unique, 'I hate you' way of hers. I gave her my best smile in return. I glanced around, checking that no one had overheard her yell and began to pick the lock. Ah, the skills that come in handy. We should have known the building was abandoned. We'd not exactly been stealthy getting in; soldiers should have been all over us. I mean we could have taken them out but, still, they should've been there. Empty walkways criss-crossed the ceiling like a ribcage of a dead animal. The floor was bare as though water had been sloshed over it a few hours before. An empty tank stood in the middle. Maybe my water theory was right after all. We moved closer. Me striding, Max sliding along. Oh great, now she's stealth girl; in the big, old ABANDONED factory. Heaven forbid, she'd been stealthy when we'd needed to be. The outside's softened that girl. The tank wasn't as empty as I'd previously thought. Manacles were bound to the bottom, deep into the ground.  
  
I saw Max freeze. I could almost see her mind slip into a flashback. I could imagine what she was seeing. A small girl, shackled to the base of the tank, not being allowed to move whilst they timed how long she stayed down there. She turned away, slamming her fist into the wall as she stormed out. She made me angry. God, so angry. I stared at the tank for a while longer. And then I let my mask slip. I work hard to keep it up all the time. I felt as though I was about to cry. Old memories of myself being shackled to the tank raced through my mind. I knew why Max was upset when I re-felt the fear of being down there. But Max was allowed to be upset from that memory. More memories began to flow through my mind. Me being thrown from a boat in the middle of the ocean with a weight attached to my leg. I was twelve. Dodging bullets that ripped through the water as I was forced to swim a thousand metre channel with boats and men and guns above me. I was fifteen. I turned away from the tank. I slipped my mask back on.  
  
Max was leaning against her bike, obviously wanting to get moving. "What got you so riled up?" I ask her, smiling. She knows that I know perfectly well what memory had annoyed her. But I was angry at her. Angry at her for letting herself be upset. Angry at me for not letting myself to be.  
"Doesn't it make you angry?" She asks, annoyed at me for being so calm. I smile at her.   
"Why should it?" She stares at me disbelieving.  
"Because look what they do to us? I bet they left that there just to annoy us!" She was getting angry now, getting into her speech.  
"They had to know what we could do." She glares at me angrily and swings herself onto her bike. I get the impression she thinks I'm a lost cause. She's waiting impatiently for me. I guess I should be thankful that she's even bothering with that.   
"You know what, I'll think I'll walk." She looks at me, as though she's going to question me, she's almost worried. "I could really do with the exercise, you know; to keep the ladies interested." She gives me that Max glare and speeds off. I had to add the Smart Alec comment. It was what I was named for. I feel a bit of regret but I'm still mad at her. I start to head after her but then I turn. My own memories burning in my mind.   
  
The tank stands there, a symbol of Manticore. A symbol of my past. I walk up, letting my mask slip and begin to smash my fist into it. Then I kick it. Then I slam my whole body into it. The plastic shatters, falling in shards around me. I'm shaking when I stand, my breath coming out in ragged breaths. I try to turn and replace the mask, but I can't, it's as if I'm hypnotised. I feel as though I'm about to cry. I fall to the ground of shattered plastic. My shaking body trying to stop the sobs that are welling up inside of me. Soldiers don't cry. Smart Alecs don't cry. I don't cry. My mask won't let me cry. But I can't stop remembering. 


End file.
